Bridgeport man dies in fire at his home

150 firefighters battle Far North Side blaze

An 86-year-old man died Wednesday night when a fire erupted in his South Side home, officials said.

Another fire on Chicago's Far North Side on Thursday morning drew about 150 firefighters to put out the blaze in the second floor of a two-story commercial building. No one was injured.

A cause had not been determined for either fire Thursday evening, officials said.

In Bridgeport, firefighters found Ray Strow's body in the rear of the first floor of the two-story residence in the 3200 block of South Green Street, officials said. Strow was alone in his home, which had no smoke detector, Chicago Fire Department spokeswoman Eve Rodriguez said.

"We cannot stress enough the importance of having a working smoke detector," she said.

Strow died from smoke inhalation, according to the Cook County medical examiner's office.

Investigators from the police bomb and arson section said an electrical malfunction or space heater might have caused the fire. They said Strow, who apparently lived by himself, had "combustible material" stacked near a space heater on the first floor.

The fire, which was reported around 11:15 p.m., did not spread to any other buildings, Rodriguez said.

No one was in the commercial building in the 2500 block of West Devon Avenue when firefighters arrived around 4 a.m., Rodriguez said.

The building houses at least one business, which was closed. The fire was concentrated in the rear of the second floor, Rodriguez said.